Deacon couldn't believe he was sitting in his car parked outside of Rina's house. What was I thinking when I decided this? Deacon knew what he was thinking. He wanted to make sure that Rina had a special 18th birthday. Looking around Rina's house, he saw it was exactly like those next-door except the exceptional roses that grew around the front of the house. The roses reminded him of Rina's love for flowers and why he was still sitting outside her house. Ever since Rina and Deacon talked about her birthday, he knew he wanted to do something to make her feel special. Deacon looked over at the passenger seat where the bouquet and box sat.

When Rina talked to him about how birthdays weren't really celebrated in her house, he knew he just had to do something. Gardner's was busy the rest of the week and they never had more time to talk to Rina about her birthday. So, Deacon decided to enlist the help of Jimmy. He told Deacon a bit about Rina's family and their obsession around the perfection of Roxy. Jimmy convinced him that Rina was probably going to be forgotten on her birthday and completely alone like that red-headed chick in that 80's movie, Sixteen Candles. Deacon couldn't let that happen to her. She deserved for her day to be special. It was with that conviction that Jimmy helped him figure out his plan. Jimmy and Deacon planned for him to go get her favorite flowers, Gerberia Daisy's and Roses and a little something special for her birthday. What Jimmy didn't realize was that after he showed up at Rina's to surprise her with her flowers he really didn't have more to the plan. Drawing a blank, Deacon batted around ideas of dinner and a movie, but figured she would shoot that down faster than it could come out of his mouth. Then he thought they could drive to Wrightland, a half an hour away, and go to the botanical gardens and then dinner. But, now he sat in his car staring at the outside of her house with what felt like twenty soccer balls bouncing around his stomach like the balls in the lottery drawing on tv.

Amping up his courage, Deacon finally grabbed the flowers, got out of his car and walked tentatively up to the house. Noticing more about Rina's work with the flowers, he shakily reached up and pushed the doorbell. While he waited for the door to open, Deacon did a quick inspection looking at his clean blue jeans, green button down and brown shoes he rarely wore. While he was busy giving myself a once over the door swung open. Standing with a halo of light around her from the hallway was Rina. She had a look of shock, embarrassment and another emotion he couldn't define.

Deacon held up the bouquet and said, "Happy Birthday, Rina."

She silently took the bouquet and stared. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted.

"Well, well, well. Hello, Deek." Roxy pushed Rina aside and was now leaning against the open door jamb. Maybe I should have just stayed in the car.

***

Holy Shit! Deacon Pearce was standing at my door, on my birthday, with a bouquet of flowers. Rina was so stunned by the sight of him that she couldn't even think of anything coherent to say. Staring at him while he handed her the flowers was the best she could do. Before Rina could thank him for stopping by, Roxy sauntered over, pushed her out of the way and was currently flirting with him like there was no tomorrow. Rina really hated her life sometimes.

"So, Deek did you hear I was home for the summer and wanted to stop by to see what I was doing tonight?" Roxy said flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Uhm...well." Deek stood there like a deer caught in headlights.

"I know you didn't come to see Rina. That would be ridiculous." She said laughing.

"Shut up, Roxy!" Rina said.

"What, Rina? You know just as well as I do he would never want anything to do with someone like you. It's not a national secret. But, if you want to kid yourself that he came to see you, well then, I will leave you to your delusions." She smiled snidely at Rina then walked to the living room.

"Rina, who's at the door?" Mom called.

She didn't know if this could get any worse.

"Oh it's just a guy, Rina wishes she could get!"called out Roxy with a smirk.

"Invite him in and shut the door." Mom yelled back ignoring what Roxy said.

Rina looked up into those mesmerizing eyes and said almost inaudibly, "Would you like to come in?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. It's just that. Um...yeah I will come in." Deacon sputtered out and stepped into the house.

"Oh good. I'm glad you're staying Deek. You can keep me company at this extremely boring party. Not like the ones I am used to." Roxy said grabbing Deacon's arm and dragging him into the living room where their parents, Jimmy, Denise and her parents were sitting. Deacon continued to stare at Rina while being lead away.

Rina needed to put the bouquet in a vase. Walking through the dining room to the kitchen, she was pulled to a stop by an iron grip that spun her around. Thank goodness, there was a wall that she slammed into or she would have landed right on her butt.

"What the..." Rina said confused.

"No, Rina. That's what I should be saying right now. What the hell? Why did Deacon just show up at your house with flowers and on your birthday no less? He also looks like he's dressed to go out. Did you have plans with him or something? You never even told me. I mean your mom and I went to a lot of trouble to plan this surprise for you and you made other plans? You never have plans. Let alone on your birthday." Denise seething by the end of her rant just stared at Rina.

"Whoa! Hold on a second. First, I didn't know about this surprise. Because...oh I don't know it was a surprise. Second, I didn't invite him over. I know he knew it was my birthday but other than that I haven't even really talked to him this week. As for him looking like he is dressed to go out maybe he has a date after this. I don't know. I am not his keeper. And just a little thanks for, yet again, pointing out what a loser I am by never having plans and never celebrating my birthday because usually no one remembers or even gives a damn that I was born. Thanks again for reminding me, Denise. You're a real pal!" Rina said and turned to continue into the kitchen to try to save the flowers she was trying not to crush.

"Hello. My beautiful ladies. Why are we arguing?" Jimmy said following them into the kitchen.

"Jimmy, can you believe this crap with Deacon showing up?" Denise said looking for an ally.

"Yes, I can." He said with a mischievious look in his eye.

"What???!!!" Denise and Rina said in unison.

Jimmy smiled broadly, "Well, since everyone else was busy planning this birthday surprise party. I was busy planning my own surprise."

"What are you talking about, Jimmy?" Rina said putting the flowers in the vase and turning to put water in the vase.

"I will explain birthday girl. Deek came to me about your birthday. He apparently felt really sad that you weren't doing anything and that it appears everyone you cared about was busy on your birthday. I may have embellished things and brought in a reference to Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles. He and I planned what he could possibly do to give you a good birthday experience."

"Are you kidding me?" Denise said crossing her arms.

"Um, no" Jimmy said glancing at her.

"You are ridiculous. Are you purposely trying to hurt Rina? Fostering any of this fascination on either Deacon's or Rina's part is just mean. I mean what happens if something comes of this? You know once his friends come back from their various vacations then that is all gone and all that will be left will be Rina and a broken heart. Rina will be a broken person. Way to go Jimmy." Denise said shaking her head.

"You know, Denise if you spent half the time you tear Rina down, supporting her with whatever decisions she makes then you would be an awesome friend. But, that is not the case. I don't know if you do it to be mean or if you do it to make yourself feel better. Reminding Rina about what other people think about her doesn't help anyone, let alone her. You have the nerve to call me a bad friend, but you don't even know the half of what I see at work. If you did you may be keeping your mouth shut and crossing your fingers that they live happily ever after. Instead your standing here just saying how Rina isn't good enough for him and that all he is going to do is hurt her. What you don't realize is that saying all of that is hurting her and you can't even see it. I truly feel bad for you because one day you will hear what you say and see how your words effect your "best friend"." Jimmy said putting air quotes around the last words.

Rina stood there dumbfounded. Jimmy had just put Denise in her place and told her that he was helping Deacon. Rina had no idea what exactly he meant by the comment about seeing them at work. Her head was spinning and all she could do was stare at the beautiful flower arrangement. Only moments later, she looked up and saw Deacon standing in the kitchen watching her as she stared at the flowers he gave her. Rina looked around and noticed Jimmy and Denise had taken their argument some place else. Here she was alone with the gorgeous captain of the soccer team. Cue the butterflies.

"Um. I didn't get to say it but, thank you for the flowers. They are beautiful."

"Your welcome. To be honest, I was a little nervous because I've never bought flowers before and I knew I was going to screw it up." He sighed smiling and visibly relaxing.

"You did great. I don't think I could have picked out a better bouquet. You really didn't have to do this Deacon."

He moved over to the opposite side of the kitchen island and looked down to his hands. "I wanted to give you something nice. I thought you deserved to feel special on your birthday." With those words, he glanced up and all coherent thought left her.

"Do you want to see my garden out back?" Rina said without thinking.

"Absolutely." He grinned.

"Ok. We can go out this way." Leaving the flowers in the vase on the counter, she led Deacon out the back door.

"Wow." He said almost inaudibly.

When they stepped into the backyard, Rina looked over at Deacon and saw a small smile. She knew what he was looking at and felt a sense of pride. Plants and flowers grew wildly under her care. The backyard was a wonderland of exotic and common wild flowers. The stair stepped flower boxes ebbed and flowed with colors and contrasts that created an abstract design. The real kicker in the design was what Rina used for the flower boxes. Anything she could get her hands on was used to house the flowers. Bathtubs, wooden barrels and bed frames helped the design show eccentricity. Looking at them, she was glad she was able to clean up the flowers after work.

"Rina, this is awesome. I can't believe you did all this on your own. You could do landscape design if you wanted." He said going up and delicately cupping one of the flowers.

"I've thought about that but, I'm more interested in the plants and flowers themselves. Hence the horticulturalist idea." She said smiling at him. "I agree though. They are pretty awesome and so beautiful. I love bringing the beauty out in the backyard." Looking at those now glittering green eyes, it felt like being in an elevator that was dropping too fast.

"They aren't the most beautiful thing in the backyard right now." He said quietly. He stepped closer and looked like he was on the same elevator.

"Deacon..."

"Rina..." He sighed leaning so close she could feel his breathe on her cheek.

"Rina! Rina!" Roxy yelled into the backyard and they jumped two steps back.

"What Roxy?" Rina yelled back.

"Mom wants you to get in here to so we can eat and you can open your presents." Rina got a look at her and the glare she was throwing her way.

"Alright we will be right in." She said. "Come on, Deacon. You're staying for dinner, right? Its just pizza but, I'm sure we have plenty."

"Yes. I would definitely like to stay for dinner." He smiled and blushed quickly looking down at his feet.

Rina turned and headed into the house with Deacon right behind her. Walking into the bustling kitchen, she saw mom was setting out the pizzas. Jimmy was setting up the sodas on the counter. Denise was putting out the plates and napkins. Roxy stood at the counter glaring at Deacon and Rina. Dad was putting ice in the cups.

"Come on, Rina. Birthday girl gets first choice of everything." Her dad said smiling and huggin her close.

"Yeah Rina. Go and help yourself. We know you want to dive in." Roxy said snidely.

"Shut it Roxy." Denise said with murder in her eyes.

Roxy left the room quickly. Ignoring Roxy's exit, she grabbed herself a plate and handed one to Deacon. Taking a slice of her favorite Margarita pizza, she went over, grabbed a cup, and poured a drink. Rina took her plate out to the dining room to grab a seat. Deacon sat next to her and soon Denise, Jimmy, Denise's parents and her parents, joined them. Roxy was a no show.

The dinner conversation ebbed and flowed well and no topic seemed to lull. Roxy was impressed when Deacon took the onslaught of her Dad's questions. She didn't know why he felt he had to do that, but it made her smile that Deacon took the verbal pummeling without blinking an eye. It was nice and comfortable. Dinner hadn't been this comfortable in a long while. It was probably the fact that Roxy was a no show that eased the tension in the room. Sitting back, Rina enjoyed the atmosphere. Denise seemed to have lost any tension she had with Deacon and Jimmy was his usual flamboyantly charming self. By the time cake and presents were brought in everyone was laughing and joking. Rina felt abundantly happy. This was definitely the best birthday ever.

Deacon had to leave not long after the presents and he asked if Rina would walk him out to his car. Running upstairs to grap a light sweater, she found Roxy sitting on the bed staring at a framed picture. The picture was from the previous year at her graduation. Rina and Roxy looked like a picture perfect pair of sisters.

"You know it will never work." She said softly.

"What?"

"You know it will never work between you and Deacon." She looked up at Rina.

"Nothing is going on between me and Deacon." Rina said infatically though it didn't feel truthful.

"You can keep saying that Rina but remember I am the one who caught you in the garden." She spoke with a tinge of venom in her tone.

"You didn't catch anything. We were just looking at flowers."

"Stop your lying, Rina. If nothing happened, its only because I caught you."

Rina stared blankly as Roxy got off the bed and walked toward her.

"You aren't even close to being good enough for someone like him. You might be good for a night on your back with your legs spread but other than that, no one like him would want someone like you. You are a plain, frumpy, fat girl. You may be kidding yourself that he likes you but we both know the only thing he would want you would never give. Look at you, you're disgusting. No style, no make-up and nothing of worth. It's laughable how you throw yourself at him. You are pathetic. He will break you. You know what I'm going to do when that happens? I'm going to look you straight in the eye and laugh." Roxy by this point had moved to stand in front of Rina and looked at her with a coldness she had never seen.

"You know what, Roxy. Mind your own damn business." Rina said barely holding back tears. Reaching around her, Rina grabbed the sweater and walked out of the room. Shutting the door soundlessly behind her, she took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face. Slowly making it down the steps, she had to force a smile on her face. Deacon was going to be hard to face after that. Rina knew it would be a good idea to shoot down any ideas he may have about them. Though, she would never say this to Roxy but, she was correct.

***

At first, Deacon felt stupid showing up at a surprise party that he wasn't invited to. After the walk in the garden and dinner with her family, he felt really comfortable. Rina and he had even gotten to a point where they started getting to know each other. Standing outside her door, he waited for Rina to walk with him to his car. His present was meant to be given in private.

Deacon found himself pacing in front of her front door. The door swung open and the look on Rina's face was devastating. The look of utter sadness and devastation was a complete change from what she had looked like only minutes ago.

"Is everything ok?" Deacon said trying to get her to make eye contact.

"Yeah. Its fine. Let me walk you to your car." She avoided eye contact while putting on her sweater. Shutting the door behind her, she walked next to him to his car.

"Thank you for asking me to stay for your party. I had a great time. I loved your garden. You are truly talented. I know who to go to if I have any flower questions." Deacon said smiling.

"Yup." She said looking at her feet while she walked. Walking the rest of the way to the car in silence was nearly unberable.

"So, um...will you sit in the car a minute with me?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Deacon."

"Please. Just for a minute. I promise it won't take long but I wanted to give you your gift without an audience." He smiled nervously.

She snapped her head up. "You got me something other than the flowers? Deacon, you really didn't have to. It's too much." She finally looked at him with a sad look in her eyes.

"Yes, I did and it wasn't anything much. So, please just sit with me for a minute."

She sighed and nodded her agreement.

Deacon practically ran to his side of the car. Waiting this long to give her this little surprise was torture. She stared at the package with the door open then looked at Deacon. He grabbed the package and motioned for her to sit down. She sat down and he turned his back to open the little box.

"What are you doing?" She said suspiciously.

"Just give me second." A second later, Deacon turned around with the light of the candle illuminating their faces.

"Oh my God, Deacon." She said in awe. She sat there staring at the cupcake with the lit candle.

"Since I was grievously misinformed by Jimmy, I went out and bought you your favorite cupcake. I still wanted to give it to you but didn't want to do it in front of everyone because I kinda felt stupid that I got punked by Jimmy. Do you like it?" He stared at her face.

"It's really my favorite? Mrs. Haney's bakery is the only place that makes them." She said with a little doubt.

"It's absolutely your favorite. It's a Cherry Cheesecake filled Chocolate cupcake. I had to get one for myself after hearing it was your favorite. I can tell you I know why it's your favorite. It's now my favorite too."

"Deacon, I don't know what to say. Thank you so much."

"Well, you could blow out the candle." Deacon smiled.

Rina looked at him through the candle light and his heart leapt at the beauty that was both inside and outside. They sat there staring at each other for a minute. Before she blew out the candle, he saw that sadness from earlier cross her face again. Deacon watched as a lone tear slid down her cheek. Right then Rina blew out the candle and the car was flooded with darkness again.

"What's wrong, Rina? Did I do something to upset you? I only meant to give you a great birthday. Please tell me what's wrong." He pleaded.

"It's nothing. Thank you so much for giving me one of the best birthday's I have ever had. You really made me feel special. Thank you for the flowers and the cupcake." She smiled sadly.

"Your welcome, but I can tell something else is wrong. Please tell me."

"Look Deacon, I don't know what you think any of this is but you know nothing will ever happen between us. You can't possibly want a girl like me for more than helping you get off and I am not that kind of girl. I would appreciate it if you didn't keep pursuing me. I'm not interested in games or being the butt of someone's joke. I know what I am and I know my place in the world. My place is on a completely different level then the soccer captain/senior class president. So before someone get's hurt let's just forget all of this. Thank you again for the cupcake." With that she took the cupcake, opened the door and stepped out of the car. Shutting the door behind her. He stared at her retreating figure and wondered what the hell just happened?